The late Thomas Hanna, PhD, was founder of the field of Somatics, director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training in Novato, CA, and editor of “Somatics: Magazine-Journal of the Bodily Arts and Sciences.” He authored seven books, perhaps best know for “Bodies in Revolt: A Primer in Somatic Thinking” (1970) and “Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health” (1989).
Hanna often referred to F.M. Alexander and Moshe Feldenkrais as important teachers who influenced him. Many aspects of the Feldenkrais technique can be found inside Hanna Somatics but Hanna continued on to develop some innovative methods for brain/body recalibration that are unique to HSE. Feldenkrais had said, and Hanna reiterated, that there is no limit to human learning potential.
Hanna considered himself a writer, philosopher and teacher, not a body worker. He called his hands-on work Clinical Somatic Education (later named Hanna Somatic Education). He strongly believed that real change can only occur from within and cannot be imposed on someone from the outside. It is the difference between working on someone and working with someone on the goal of restoring awareness and voluntary control over the sensory-motor system.
